Is the ASUS N61JQ-X1 a good notebook?

I'm planning to get this for gaming, and the price on Newegg for it is $1000.

It looks like a good notebook but I have three concerns-

How many fps can I get on Crysis?

Can it be overclocked?

Does it overheat quickly?

What is the battery life?

This seems like a great laptop because my budget is $1000.00

 

I just ordered one, so of course my answer would be yes, it is a good laptop.

First off, if you mean the GPU, yes it can be overclocked. With the overclock, Crysis gets around 37 FPS with all settings high, so it will definitely run well even without the overclock. You can view that and some other benchmarks in the N71JQ Owners thread, but expect the same numbers for the N61 since they use the same processor and GPU.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=457176&page=2

It does get kind of hot for some people. But the temperatures aren't extremely high and the i7 should be able to handle it for a long time. If you want you get get a cooler which will be a great help with temperatures. I'd suggest a Zalman NC200. It's a little pricey but works great according to people who have one.

Battery life is expected to be around 2 hours.

Overall I and a lot of other people think it is a very good deal for what you get.

However, if you can I'd suggest spending a few more bucks and getting it through a reseller like Xotic, Gentech, or Power Notebooks. They will provide much better customer service and can upgrade your laptop for you if you wish, including better thermal compounds which will help the it cool even more. Even more importantly, however, Newegg is only offering a 1 year warranty on the N61JQ-X1, while the resellers offer a 2 year warranty with their N61JQ-A1's.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

Yeah. My budget is 1,000 but I might stretch it. When I get the laptop (still contemplating for who to order it from). Also, what speeds should the gpu be clocked to when overclocking

 

The best that tarlyn got with their N71 in the other board is 780 Core 1000 Memory.

 

Would you recommend this laptop over the ASUS G72GX-RBBX05 if I overclock the card and get a laptop cooler?

 

uh what?


http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/7954/crysis7801000.jpg


37FPS at 1024x768 @ high...IMO playing at that low of a resolution on a 1600x900 screen hardly makes it "running well" it would be crippled running the game at native resolution.

 

Well he did asked about the N61JQ, which has a native resolution of 1366 x 768, not 1600 x 900 like the N71. So pardon me if I'm wrong but I don't think running the game at 1366 x 768 would be much different than if it were run at 1024 x 768 as it was in the benchmark.

 

Well there are a lot of differences between these two laptops that will ultimately come down to personal preference. Most obvious is the size. If you're looking for a more portable laptop, the N61 is definitely smaller and much lighter than the G72 you have listed. While the G72 does have a more powerful GPU, the N61 should be adequate for some good gaming experiences, as long as you don't insist on playing the newest games on all their highest settings while expecting to get a good framerate. On the other hand, the N61 has a better CPU than the G72 and also a faster HDD.

Like I said, I chose the N61 because I wanted a more portable machine than one with a 17'' screen and something that could provide me with some good gaming experiences too. There's compromises to be made with choosing either, so it really comes down to what fits your needs best.

 

Thanks a lot. I have been searching for weeks and I finally ordered the N61 with a laptop cooler. Gonna try to OC it when I get it.

 

even going from 1024x768 to 1366x768 is a 25% difference in pixels, which should almost directly correlate to an average of less than 30FPS, and that is with an OC. this is also with the benchmark, which isn't truly indicative of in-game performance, especially at the later levels of the game. you would even feel a good amount of stuttering at 1024x768 and those settings when it drops below 20FPS (min FPS in that benchmark) your effective min FPS at full res would probably be in the low teens. would you like to enter into even a single player firefight in an FPS and be going below 20FPS?

 

Well I would have attempted it at native but that wasnt an option on the benchmark tool I was using....all the freaking benchmark stuff is never ran at native or most that I have seen isnt and as mentioned above he was asking about a notebook with a resolution very similar to the benchmark anyway.

 

Yeah. As long as the benchmark is fairly close I'm fine with it. Crysis at low beats out almost all games

 

Well I mean you will most likely at your native play it at medium settings and be just fine....the bench was just to see what it could do with an OC....I ran the only bench I am aware of for Crysis so didnt realize every number would be scrutinized afterwards.

All the info is there....interpret it as you will.

I haven't ran furmark with those settings so they may not even be stable but I was just looking for the best that I could get out of it this morning.

Feel free to buy one Element and run all the benchmarks how you want to....would love to see more info come out for this system.

Also the OP had a budget of 1000......can you recommend a better system laptop wise that he could look at?

 

yes, any laptop with a GTX260m will smoke the N61. there are at least 4 asus laptops at or under 1,000$ that can outperform it, all int he G series. thats why its the G series, for GAMING.

I wouldn't waste my time with an N61/71, personally.

G71
G72
G51VX-RX05
G60VX-RX05

all at best buy with much higher performance GTX260m. all at or under 1,000$ (the G60VX is only 900$ leaving room for a cooler and maybe a couple of games off steam..) they all have dual core CPUs, but with 90+% of current games that is more than enough. I got much higher scores at 1080p than this thing did at 1280x720 (06/vantage)

 

Awesome some good info for the OP which is what I think he was looking for.

I was more going for multimedia not pure gaming and really wanted an I7 so eliminated those ones due to that reasoning but if for purely gaming the 260 will out perform it for sure.

Thanks Element!

 

Of course the GTX 260m will best anything the 5730 can do, that's not even in question. Exactly like you said and I said earlier, it all comes down to a matter of personal preference. If the user isn't as worried about getting the absolute highest FPS in his games at the highest settings, he can look at other aspects of the laptop besides just the GPU. I think (hope) everybody getting an N61 knows that there are better machines out there if they plan on using their laptop for primarily playing the most graphics intensive games.

 

I plan on using this laptop for a good gaming experience (mostly source games like team fortress 2, day of defeat:source and call of duty 4 on high) as well as for business meeting and presentations, in some circumstances where I may not have a power outlet (or do not care to waste time plugging it in) and need about 2-3 hours of battery life.

Does this meet the criteria?

 

it should get 2-3 hours of battery life fairly easily if you're not gaming, but gaming would drop it down to most likely, 1.5-2 hours. for your usage, (source games + office work) this would probably be the perfect mix of power and performance.

 

These laptops have entirely different focus from the N61. The N61 is a well rounded system with a capable video card, very good CPU, and a handful of other nice features like USB 3.0 and fingerprint reader, etc. Not to mention it supports DDR3, even though it does not improve gaming performance, it helps somewhat with other tasks. It is also a fair bit lighter than all of the machines listed above. A 26W TDP HD 5730 has a performance that seems to be only 16% or so lower than a 75W GTX 260M, which I find is very impressive.

( Originally Posted by jd_cincy View Post
Xotic got 3dmark of 7971 on N61 and 9461 on G51. That's about 16% better on the G51.

N61 has USB3.0 (1 port))

Lastly, the N61 would come standard with a 2 year warranty and one year of accidental damage protection. This would be worth at least $200 at Bestbuy.

 

My G51 w/ P8700 @ 2.53Ghz got 10,300 stock. Also, any G51 getting 9461 doesn't have an i7 CPU, one with an i7 will be getting 11,000+ making it a much less powerful in the CPU BOUND BENCHMARK. IN ac tual gaming performance the 260m screams compared to the 5730, they are completely different classes of cards.


Here is the benchmark you're referring to:

http://www.xoticpc.com/reviews/N61JQ/3DM06.PNG


now, compare that to:

http://www.xoticpc.com/reviews/G51/12803d2.jpg


where an UNDERCLOCKED 260m gets 2,000 points more, 37% more in SM2.0 scores, and 17% more in SM3.0 scores, where it really matters. the CPU score is the only thing keeping it within grasp of a G51.

When we see Vantage results, this will only become more apparent.


and if you had cared to read the OP:


"I'm planning to get this for gaming" so yes, I was commenting on the rigs GAMING PERFORMANCE in a thread about someone wanting a GAMING LAPTOP FOR 1,000$. And also, the difference between DDR2 and any speed DDR3 is negligible, at best. USB 3.0 currently serves almost zero purpose, and most likely won't be utilized much, if at all, in the entire life of this notebook because there currently are almost no USB 3.0 devices on the market to take advantage of the port.

 

Yeah, strangely enough this NB is super-high on my list -- I am looking to ditch the old A8JP and am not considering even the vaunted G73JH. Why? No USB 3.0. Yep, that's it. If I had no interest in getting the latest technologies then I might consider an older model, but now seems the right time to make sure my new purchase doesn't end up outdated in 2 years.

 

it'll most likely take those 2 year before USB3.0 is even a standard and widely used in peripherals. Just look at the current market penetration of eSata. You'd be better off getting a G51J and then an expresscard USB 3.0 card when they come out.

 

Yeah, I'll admit I've been out of the loop for a couple of years (tries to hide post history), but USB 3.0 as a technology seems to have significant legs, from what I've read. Whatever the market penetration of USB 3.0 holds now, eventually it will become the standard, and I just can't bring myself to buy something new that doesn't have "new" features.

I'm thinking now I will wait a few months to see what happens with the ASUS G series, but I can definitely sympathize with the new buyer who doesn't need a top-end gaming card, but wants to multitask and game adequately. This N61JQ seems to fit the bill, including having all the latest stuff, at an amazing price point.

 

and this is what I'm saying lol, its a great notebook for that! but the OP asked about its gaming performance, specifically citing crysis, THE most intense game out there, which requires a high end card at ANY resolution. and as I said, if you get a G series with an express card slot, spend 50$ later down the road and get USB 3.0 support, and it will most likely be less buggy than it is right now as it was just released last month at CES.

 

lol point taken, I'm rusty at this cut me some slack haha

 

Yeah that's pretty much all it is here guys, just different strokes for different folks.

 

Problem is, the $899 G60 comes with a P7450 processor, and I think it has been shown to be a significant bottleneck in some graphics intensive games, such as GTA4. Although, I agree, the 260M is a faster card than the 5730, perhaps by about 20% - 25%, then. But in your post you've just compared an actual $1000 N61 to a significantly more expensive variant of the G51. So I think I can maintain the fact that the $899 version of G60 is hardly any better than the N61 in terms of gaming.

 

it will only be a bottleneck in VERY FEW GAMES. GTAIV is the worst example of a bottleneck ever, because it'll even bottleneck a 4GHz Core 2 Quad desktop...GTAIV is poorly optimized. It has nothing to do with "Graphics intensive" thats CPU intensity. I compared the G51J to the N61 because they share the same CPU, and to show that the GPU scores are what vary, that is the only reason the N61 is anywhere near the G51J in 3DMark scores, when in fact, it is much worse in gaming. 90% of games will run better on a dual core than they would on a quad, GTAIV and some other multithreaded games are the exceptions. I am done arguing this point, as it seems you're the only one without the proper capacity to grasp the concept.

 

Why so hostile? I said I agree that the GTX 260M is a superior card BY ITSELF than the HD 5730, and that is a very obvious point. the OP asked for a gaming notebook UNDER $1000, and hence the $1450 G51J you posted a link to is not an eligible candidate, and hence entirely irrelevant. My entire point in all of my previous posts is that the INSIGNIFICANT GAINS in graphics power of the G60 from BESTBUY FOR $899 MAY BE OUTWEIGHED BY ITS CONS COMPARED TO THE NEWER N61. Moreover, he is asking what computer can render 3D video games, NOT what single silicon chip can produce the highest 3D rendering score. Any system is, what its name suggests, a SYSTEM of components. Any ACTUAL game requires MORE than just a GPU. You can argue that 3DMark Vantage is largely CPU independent, that is because the video card is rendering a pre determined script. When the CPU has to calculate things like AI, it WILL have a significant effect. I think the following points sum up the advantages of the N61 over the G60:

- USB 3.0 (2.5" external HDD with USB 3.0 are already out)
- Superior CPU
- lower weight
- extra year of ASUS warranty + 1 year of accidental damage versus 1 year of Bestbuy's Geek Squad
- from the current results, does not overheat when playing games

I think it may be you that is missing the point.

EDIT: here is the 1280 x 800 3DMark06 on that $899 G60:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=427786

I fail to see how a last gen notebook that gives 9000 3DMark06 at 1280 x 800 is a better computer for the OP than the N61 that gives 7950 3DMark06 at 1280 x 1024. Once again, the "260M GTX + i7 >>>> HD 5730 + i7" point is irrelevant. The G60 DOES NOT HAVE an i7. Lastly, it is definitely not true that "most games run better on a dual core than on a quad core". The i7 series have dynamic throttling which can turn itself into a much higher clocked dual core which is also more efficient clock for clock. There is simply no way the P7450 can beat the i7 in the N61.

 

I have been looking at the G6 and G7 series for a while. I wanted to get the laptop, but my biggest gripe was the Cpu. It won't last me as long as the i7. The G72GX is a great choice, but I don't need to run Crysis at 60fps. 30-40 is fine, and this processor is better and will last me longer imo.

 

Ya I usually keep my laptops 4-5 years so my priority was the processor since I do more dvd burning and things like that then gamin....will do Diablo 3 and Star Craft 2 but blizzard is always good at their games running well on lower cards so no worries that the card in the N61/N71 will work out fine for that. I have no need/want to play Crysis but believe I could do that perfectly fine with medium settings.

Lots of good options depending on where your priorities are!

 

I also don't want to spend 1,000 dollars every 3 years because modern times made my cpu horrible. The i7 is barely even needed now, and the 5730 is great with a laptop cooler.

 

Yeah Nvidia, it sounds like you got the right notebook according to your priorities. They're pretty much the same as mine. I wanted some gaming, which the 5730 is good enough for for me, and I really like the faster processor that the N61 has. Plus I like to play a lot of RTS games on the PC, some of which are very CPU intensive. Whether or not I'll need the faster CPU now or down the road I don't know, but it's definitely nice to have.

 

It was extremely hard though, lol. I have been going back and forth for weeks. The benefit of the GTX 260 is nice, but the i7 will be 10x better in the long run. With the Zalman N2000, overclocking should be easy and running Crysis at high 30+ frames will be easy.

 

It overclocks very well and I did it without a cooler......these cards seem to have alot of overhead....no idea about 30 frames on high as I only ran the demo but you will be able to play it.....just have to have some people who like to OC and play Crysis to see how much.

I dont really care about Crysis so

 

It's not that I really care about it that much, but the fact that if I can run Crysis at 30+ frames, other games should be zero problems. How high did you get on the 3D mark score, and did you run benchmarks on any games?

 

Stock settings were 600 Core Speed and 800 Memory.

No game benchmarks minus Crysis which I came up with 37 frames/sec but only at a resolution of 1024x768.

 

Thanks a lot man, Not bad at all. Was the benchmark taken before or after the overclock?

Also, rep to everyone who helped. You guys made this decision a **** ton easier.

 

Both of those were after.....have been sick so havent really dug into whether that OC is stable enough or not....the Memory is stable for sure but the Core Speed may be 10-20 too high potentially.

I'm downloading some more benchmarks that I will post in the N71 thread when I am done.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=457176

 

Thanks. When I get it I will try to see what I can do with it overclocking wise. I'll join the discussion when the laptop comes in. Is there alot of useless programs on the system that need installing?

 

Ya there are quite a few but Asus does have a few decent ones worth keeping....there is a guide around here somewhere with what each program does.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=380681

 

Thanks a lot. You have been a really huge help. Can't wait to get it in and get some benchmarks rolling

 

Everybody in this thread has been a huge help to me as well. Even though I already decided on the N61, I have a lot to learn about benchmarking and such and I want to provide as much info to the boards as I can. So I'll try to do as much as I can in that area to give people an idea as to what this laptop is capable of once I get it.

 

I am selling mine if anyones interested $750 screen is just to small for me

 

i'm interested.
is it posted in the marketplace?

 

sent you a pm

 

Can someone tell me what is the difference between the X1 and the A1 models?? Is it just the larger HD?? Please lmk... looking to buy.

 

NM..

asus responded.

"ASUS N61JQ-A1 16-Inch Versatile Entertainment Laptop has a 500gb hdd and 2yr warranty, and is priced higher accordingly. Those are the only differences.
The Newegg web page is being updated to reflect 1yr warranty on the N61JQ-X1.

Amazon just received stock! "

 

This thread has been a great help for me as well. I'm pretty much in the same situation as the OP. I plan on buying a new laptop in the next two weeks. I will use it primarily for two things: Playing games (Crysis, Team Fortress 2, starcraft 2, diablo 3, etc...) and running standard office 2007 apps. Primarily for gaming though. I need it to last me at least 3 years. I only have about $1000 to spend.

I was originally leaning towards:

Asus G60vx (Intel® Core™2 Duo processor P7450; 4GB DDR2 memory; 6-cell lithium-ion; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 16" widescreen; 320GB hard drive) $899

But then I saw:

Asus G72gx (Intel® Core™2 Duo processor P8700; 6GB DDR2 memory; 8-cell lithium-ion battery; DL DVD±RW/CD-RW drive; 17.3" widescreen; 500GB hard drive) $999

The G72 seemed like a much better machine for only $100 more. But then I saw the N61 being discussed in this thread and I thought the i7 cpu would be worthwhile. I figured the i7 processor would make up for the video card. I checked passmark's video benchmarks and it doesn't look like there is much of a difference between the radeon 5730 and the geforce 260m. So it seemed like a processor that gets nearly double higher benchmarks would make up for a slightly slower video card. Apparently I'm wrong?

Would the ASUS G72gx be the better gaming machine if I only have $1000 to spend?

 

If all you're worried about is gaming performance then I'd say the GTX 260M is going to be the more powerful card. While the i7 is an awesome chip I don't think it's going to benefit game as much as the difference in video cards will. Of course the GTX 260M is older technology and can't do DX 10.1 let alone DX 11 which you'd get with the N61JQ.